The vicious murder of Wall Street Journal
reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan focused international attention on
the dangers faced by journalists covering the U.S. "war on terror," yet
most attacks on journalists in Asia happened far from the eyes of the
international press. In countries such as Bangladesh and the
Philippines, reporters covering crime and political corruption were as
vulnerable to attack as those reporting on violent insurgency. Seven
journalists were killed in 2002 for their work in Asia.

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Fiji's diverse and energetic media have remained
strong despite ongoing political instability in the country. Tensions
between indigenous Fijians and the ethnic Indian population dominate
political and social life and are often played out in the media, which
include several English- and Hindi-language newspapers, the partially
privatized Fiji TV, and two major radio broadcasters that operate
English-, Fijian-, and Hindi-language channels.

Shortly after U.S. president George W. Bush arrived
in South Korea's capital, Seoul, in February 2002 for a state visit,
the North Korean state news agency, KCNA, reported a miracle: that a
cloud in the shape of a Kimjongilia, the flower named after the
country's leader, Kim Jong Il, had appeared over North Korea. "Even the
sky above the Mount Paektu area seemed to be decorated with beautiful
flowers," KCNA said. The piece was a whimsical effort to trump news of
Bush's visit to the other side of the divided Korean peninsula,
according to The New York Times.